1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to systems and methods for the programming of devices, in particular to illumination and display devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Many lighting systems for theatres and entertainment, retail and architectural venues such as casinos, theme parks, stores, malls, etcetera, require elaborate lighting instruments and, in addition, networks to control the lights. One of the designers' most onerous tasks comes after all the lights are in place: configuration. This involves going to each instrument (e.g. light fixture) and determining and setting the network address of each unit through the use of switches or dials and then determining the setup and corresponding element on a lighting board or computer. Two people usually accomplish this and, depending on the distance, use walkie-talkies and enter into a lot of back and forth discussion during the process.
This task can take many hours depending on the locations. For example, a new amusement park ride may use hundreds of lighting fixtures, each of which is controlled over a network, that are neither line-of-sight to each other or to any single point. Each one must be identified and a correspondence made between the light and its setting on the lighting control board. Mix-ups and confusion are common during this process.
It would be useful to have a system that allowed each light to be separately queried, automatically determine which light it is and then set an address and store it onboard the light.